Objective: To estimate age by macroscopically examining sternal end of right fourth rib by using pit depth and quality of bone in deceased males.

Material and Method

Study design: Observational Study.

Setting: The study was done at the department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, King Edward Medical University, Lahore.

Duration of study: Duration of study was one year from June 2016 to May 2017.

Methods; Age was confirmed by documentary evidences like birth certificates, identification cards or national identity cards (CNIC). In the present study, the dead body was placed flat in supine position on the standard autopsy table. Right fourth rib was dissected along with the costochondral junction. The bones were kept fifteen minutes in boiling water to remove the remaining soft tissues and were dried at room temperature. Each rib was examined at sternal end macroscopically to ascertain the stage of morphological change which was separated into nine groups- phase 0 to phase 8 using Iscan method. The morphological changes observed were articular surface at costochondral junction, pit depth using pit caliper and overall quality of bone. After examination, the rib was placed back in the chest cavity; the body was stitched and handed over to police as case property. Data was collected via study proforma.

Results: Mean age was 42.29±21.02 with minimum and maximum value of 13 and 85. Mean pit depth is 4.41mm. 41(48.2%) cases have smooth firm and solid bone, 16(18.8%) have brittle and porous, 15(17.7%) have rough and porous, 8(9.40%) have fairly good quality, 5(5.90%) have good quality bone. Scatter plot shows linear line and highly significant positive results on basis of pit depth of sternal end of right fourth rib r-value 0.345 at significance level of 0.001. The final model for age estimation is Age = 8.05±7.70 (PIT DEPTH).

Conclusion: It is concluded that the age in dead body can be estimated on the bases of pit depth of right 4^th rib based on different phases of Iscan method.